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The Stars And Sea
The Stars And Sea was a novelette FanFiction. Plot An Ancient Greek version of Claire is introduced. She inhabits the island of Crete, and has recently been arrested for stealing bread from a small village nearby. It is the day of the yearly sacrifice; every year, criminals are sent by the King of Crete into a vast labyrinth which is supposed to be inhabited by a vicious monster. No one has ever returned from the labyrinth. Because of this barbaric punishment, Crete's crime rate is the lowest among all its neighbors, so sacrifices are in short supply. For this reason, Claire is chosen as the year's sacrifice, despite her fairly insignificant crime. At the center of the labyrinth is said to be a crown, which serves as a prize. If it is obtained, the sacrifice will be absolved of his or her crimes and allowed to return to society. So far, no one has ever retrieved it, and the crown's placement at the maze's center serves to lure victims further inside. She is brought to the King's palace and set before the gates, the nobles eating fruit nearby while they watch. She asks the King for a map and is refused, as this would defeat the purpose of a labyrinth. Claire questions whether the monster is the King's son; the King refutes the idea that it's his son, confirming that he did raise the creature, but that it is the offspring of his wife and a monster. He claims that his wife went into a trance and had sex with an animal, producing the monster of the labyrinth. Claire is sent into the maze. While turning corners, Claire tries to remember which way she went so that she can return after finding the crown. However, she soon loses her sense of direction, and cannot climb up the wall to see around due to the wall's height. Nearer the center, there are vines which grow up the walls, but they are not strong enough to support a human's weight. She hears something growl, but realizes that the monster must be on the other side of the wall, as she cannot see it. A swishing sound comes closer and she hears a snort, screaming and running. She tries to think up a plan to outmaneuver the monster, then sees a knife embedded in a tangle of vines. With the knife in hand, she attempts to face the monster, but sees it running away from her. Claire traps the monster against a dead end, but sees that it is afraid. It is a scaly creature with a mane of greasy, curly hair and a tufted tail like a lion's, hippo-like feet, horns, and long ears. The monster turns toward her and is relieved, claiming that he thought Claire was the monster. Claire is confused, asking him if he is the monster; he says no, that he isn't even able to eat meat, and does not think of himself as frightening. He says he doesn't have a name, as he can't remember much from his infancy and has been trapped in the labyrinth for most of his life. Claire gives him the name Owen. He explains that he doesn't know where the monster is, and that all his friends have been killed by it; he has survived by drinking rainwater, licking salt from the walls, and eating dirt. He cannot make himself eat the vines, as they grow from the maze's only source of nourishment: the bodies of the fallen. Claire promises to help Owen escape the maze, but Owen says that all the maze's previous victims have promised the same thing and then abandoned him in frustration after they couldn't find the way out. Claire promises not to abandon him. She tries to find him some food from the bag of items she was allowed to bring into the maze, and they find lipstick, which they realize can be used to mark the walls. However, Claire then discovers the crown within Owen's matted hair. He says he was keeping it to ensure she wouldn't leave him, but she isn't upset and gives it back. They continue searching for the exit. Claire thinks that Owen looks tired, and asks him if he needs to rest. He responds by agreeing to walk faster, despite this being the opposite of what Claire asked. She slows him down, and he breaks down into tears and tells her to take the crown and abandon him. Claire promises not to abandon him. They wonder what species he is. Owen believes that he is a human, due to his having features such as eyes, a tongue, a heart, and a face. His lack of understanding of biology is somewhat justified as he has not received any education while being trapped in a giant maze his entire life. Claire suggests that Owen is not a human, which makes him uneasy; he claims that he has heard of other hybrid animals such as harpies, sphinxes, and mermaids, but he cannot be any of those due to lacking wings, fangs, or a fish's tail. The fact that all of these beings have anatomical features in common with humans despite being different species is apparently lost on him, as he reasons that having hair, a belly, and a penis makes him a human. Claire settles on agreeing that he might be a subspecies of human. They find their way back out of the maze by the end of the day, before the nobles have even finished their meal. The King announces that the monster has escaped; Owen initially thinks it's Claire, but Claire realizes the King is talking about Owen. The Queen sobs and flees. The King demands that Owen return to the labyrinth, but Claire defends Owen, striking the King across the face without a thought for her own safety. The King reveals that Owen is indeed the monster of the labyrinth, sent to live within the maze to avoid bringing the King any further shame; the sacrifices were intended to be his meals. As she is protected by law, Claire is allowed to leave safely and live in freedom, but Owen is told to return as he is a threat to society. Claire reasons that if they can turn Owen into a human, he would be permitted to live among people, and the King agrees. He tells them about a magic gem which is guarded by a monster across the ocean with the power to turn any creature into a human, but no one has ever successfully retrieved it. This fact makes his knowledge about the gem dubious at best, but Owen and Claire do not question this and Claire demands lodging for the night and the King's finest boat so that they can make the journey. The King allows it, but tells them that they will both be put to death if they return empty-handed. On their way out, the Queen stops Owen and apologizes for not keeping him safe from the King's wrath. She says that she truly loved Owen's real father. She gives Owen a lyre as a gift, and noting the King's watchful eyes, sends them along their way. They enter the castle and go to the banquet hall, where no one seems bothered by Owen's presence. Claire eats cheese and crackers; Owen seems surprised that she isn't having anything else to eat, but she says she doesn't like seafood and is a vegetarian. Owen speculates that it's okay for vegetarians to eat fish because fish are not emotionally intelligent, and that fish look creepy; however, he admits that he has only ever seen a few fish, just now, in the banquet hall, as a part of the meal. Owen plays his lyre a bit with his tail at Claire's prompting. Owen asks if Claire will sing, but she denies; she claims she's so good that she can make people insane with love immediately. Claire refuses to sing, but promises that she will someday. Suddenly she claims that she wishes she were more like other girls, and Owen emphatically disagrees, claiming that Claire is uniquely talented and shouldn't wish her abilities away (and that she is physically attractive as well). Claire says that Owen is attractive for whatever he is, and he names himself a dinotaur. The name comes from the fact that he is part dinosaur and resembles a bull. Claire disagrees, saying that he's half human, but Owen's view on humanity appears to have changed; he claims that being anything other than purely human makes you less than human. Claire thinks that Owen shouldn't want to drastically alter his physical structure on the most fundamental level in order to fit in, but she also changes her appearance to fit in, such as wearing lipstick, so she allows him this desire. Claire takes a bath, a scene which shows the psychological discomfort she has with her lower body parts. When she is done, she checks in on Owen, who does not know how to take a bath. Claire helps him wash himself and tries to convince him that he is not a monster. She gives him a haircut as he continues to obsess over becoming a "real" man, hoping that Claire will find him attractive. They have hot chocolate in the morning and realize that they have been planning on staying together long after the quest is done. That afternoon they sail out of Crete. Owen says he loves the ocean, and Claire agrees that it feels like home. She offers to get him a seashell, but then stops, saying that they need to keep moving instead. Owen eats some of the fruit they have stored while Claire tells him about her family; her mother and sisters died long ago, but when they were alive, her mother would take her swimming in the ocean. Her family was murdered by a group of men when she was young; Claire was the only survivor. She was adopted by an inventor following her family's murder, and he helped her. However, this parental figure also died while piloting a flying machine with propellers made of wax; they were melted by the heat of the sun and he fell to his death in the ocean. They ponder what the sun is; Owen speculates that it is a type of star, which Claire dismisses. Claire brings up that Owen will always be part dinosaur, due to his father, which makes Owen angry; he accuses her of not wanting the human species polluted. He goes into a tirade, accusing Claire of not appreciating her dead family members; she runs into the ship's hold and locks herself away while Owen tries to apologize. Claire returns at night and apologizes to Owen, who gives up on becoming a human. Claire tries to comfort him, and points out various constellations. They sleep, using the spare sail as a blanket. Owen has nightmares, including one about the monster in the labyrinth having his face and eating Claire. The boat goes on as they sleep, eventually arriving on a misty shoreline where the outline of a mountain is visible. They begin to climb the mountain. After a few hours, they are confronted by a sail-backed reptilian creature, who is angry at being disturbed. She gives them riddles, and becomes frustrated with Owen's nonsensical answers. After he gives three such answers, she commits suicide by jumping off a cliff, and Claire and Owen continue. They retrieve a large gem, assumed to be the magic one, and return to Crete. When they find the King at his croquet yard, he is shocked that Owen and Claire survived and returned, and reveals that there is no magic gem. Owen cannot be changed. Owen breaks down, running away through a wheat field. Claire comforts him, and eventually discovers that part of why he wanted to become a human was so that they could be together romantically. Claire decides to reveal her secret to him, and leads him across the prairie to the ocean. She enters the water and transforms into a mermaid. They play in the shallows for some time, and then decide to swim somewhere far away. Claire reveals that she has smuggled the non-magic gem out of the castle in her bodice, and they can use it to get rich. They then swim away across the ocean to an uninhabited island near Fiji, where they set up a cabin and build a sailboat so they can reach the mainland. Claire finally sings. At one point, Owen accidentally fertilizes her egg pool, causing them to have eight hundred and twenty-three children. Trivia * There are multiple instances of foreshadowing that Claire is a mermaid throughout the story. ** The monster is said to enjoy the taste of human flesh, but Claire believes that she is not in danger due to the size of the maze and "one other reason." This other reason, presumably, is that she is not actually a human, and therefore not the favored prey of the monster. ** Claire tells the King that she has seen hybrids take on human form before. This is a reference to the fact that, while on land, mermaids can reshape their lower bodies into a human form. ** At the banquet, Claire says that she is a vegetarian and does not eat seafood. When Owen says that he doesn't think fish are emotionally intelligent and that they look creepy, Claire becomes uncomfortable and changes the subject. ** Claire says that her singing voice is so good that it can drive people insane, and that people fall in love with her immediately when she sings. This is a common aspect of the siren, a creature often confused with a mermaid. ** When Owen wants to become human and Claire tries to dissuade him, she realizes that she is hypocritical for thinking he should remain a dinotaur because of how she alters her own appearance. The reader is misled to think she is referring to wearing lipstick, but she is almost certainly referring to her reshaping her lower body. ** While taking a bath, Claire tries to hide her lower body from herself as it makes her uncomfortable. The reader may be misled into thinking that Claire is transsexual, a possibility which Owen suggested in the original version (this was edited to replace it with a bear in a human-skin jumpsuit), but it is eventually revealed that she is a mermaid. ** Claire accidentally slips up and forgets to refer to herself as human while talking to Owen. ** On the boat, Claire says that she has swum fairly far out into the ocean, and that she did so frequently when she was younger. She says that the sea feels like home, and tells Owen that it is very deep. She offers to find him a seashell from the ocean floor, but then decides not to swim, as this would reveal her true form. She also says that the salt spray irritates her skin and makes her legs itch, likely because being in an aquatic environment causes her body to want to revert to its natural state. ** Claire encourages Owen to swim, telling him that the constellation Taurus is supposed to be a swimming bull. Owen says that hybrids can't swim, which is obviously untrue, as Claire is a kind of hybrid and is fully adapted to an aquatic lifestyle. She also references the constellation Capricorn, which is a goat with the lower half of a fish. * The original version of the text featured a line where Owen asks Claire if she's "secretly a man". This dialogue was replaced due to transmisic connotations, which were unintended by the author. The line, combined with accidental association of Claire being ashamed by her lower half in an earlier scene, stigmatizes the idea of a female penis, and was thus rewritten to remove the negative implications. The line was changed to "a bear in a human-skin jumpsuit" to reflect Owen's previous line about being a hairy monster. "Ultimately, the line works better that way," the author explained, "In a story about the absurdity of labelling hybridity as monstrous, the original line had no place and ran counter to the ultimate moral. Even if no harm was intended, the idea of women being 'secret men' is incredibly harmful towards the trans community. Besides, Owen wouldn't mind if Claire had a penis, so the original line doesn't actually make sense, except to reinforce the toxicity of Owen's performed masculinity, a feature which he lacks in this particular story. There is no reason for a maze-dwelling dinotaur to have feelings of gay panic, to put it simply. But if you want to congratulate me on being mature enough to admit that I fucked up, go right ahead. I'm a hero, really." * The title derives from the relationship between Owen, the minotaur, and Claire, the mermaid. In Greek mythology, the minotaur was named "Asterion", meaning "starry", and Claire is a creature of the sea. * The constellations mentioned in the story bear significance. Taurus, being a bull, resembles Owen, and Capricorn, being part fish, resembles Claire. Corona Borealis is significant to the Minotaur myth, but also represents the Golden Crown. The Pleiades echo Claire's deceased sisters. Category:Stories